Fifteen Pound Head

***There we were... being placed for our annual formal picture with my entire family at Olan Mills on Sunday... my Mom beaming with pride. Mom's one request is that we get a family picture every year for them to use on their Christmas card and to keep an accurate picture of the family to hang in their house. And at the rate our family grows, it's not unfounded. My sister Amy just had twins in July to make 7 grand-children! 
So, Phil and I being the only ones without children, are always placed last. And somehow the size of certain in-laws' heads always determines where we are placed so as not to give the impression some people's heads are too large. The conversation went something like this:
"Don't put her by me... her head is too small to be next to mine"
Phil-"I can go next to you... I have a fifteen pound head" ***

It's true - Phil and I weighed our heads early on in our marriage. We would be laying on our couch in our 1,050 sq. ft. bungalow in Charlotte, NC watching TV and he would always put his head in my lap or lay it on me somehow. After a few minutes I would always have to move him because it was too heavy. "I swear your head weighs like 15 pounds!", I would say. This always annoyed him. So one night, he decided to get the scale out to see what it really weighed. 

So how does one weigh a head? Accurately? Of course you have to be laying down. But do you lay on your back with your head on the scale or on your stomach? Does one way make you subconsciously press your head down more, ending in a higher weight? We decided to weigh three different ways and average the number. Once on your back with your head (only head-not your neck!) on the scale, once on your stomach, and once on your side. I don't know if the laying-on-your-side method is needed, but it sure is fun to watch. 

Phil's final average was a definitive moment in our marriage. His head was really 15 pounds. This means that I could lift his head for exercise. It is also equivalent to two gallons of water. There must be a lot swimming around in there. 

So, naturally we had to weigh my head too. I averaged somewhere between 6 and 7 pounds. How does one marry someone with double the head size of them? (I don't know but it sure made him easier to pick out in a crowd.) The question also arises-is head size hereditary? Well, on a trip home visiting his family we weighed his mom's head and it too was 14-15 pounds. Now I wonder if I'm missing out on something. Does the size of your brain matter or just it's components? Hmmm...

How much does your head weigh?